What is an Australian native bee?
The best known bee in Australia is the yellow-brown commercial honey bee (Apis mellifera). This is not a native bee even though it sometimes goes wild and builds nests in our bushland. This bee was introduced to Australia from Europe in about 1822 to produce honey for our pioneers. Thousands of other bee species, of all shapes and sizes, visit our gardens and wildflowers. These are our own Australian native bees which have evolved with our wildflowers for millions of years.
